Location

Designers

Season

Style

Setting

Colors

It’s so secret that I love winter. I super love winter. Almost as much as I love weddings in a barn. Put those two together, and it’s over, as far as I’m concerned. It’s over in a super gorgeous gallery from Alison Mish Photography, filled with lovebirds in sweaters and boots, snowy upstate New York, and sweet, pink cheeks. Make sure to see it all, right here!

From the Bride… We wanted to get married somewhere in “upstate” New York as this is where our relationship began. Seeing as Phil’s family and friends were from Ohio, mine from Pennsylvania, and our current location across the country in Oregon, we figured this was as good a place as any. My aunt found Full Moon Resort, and we fell in love with it.

Picturesque in and of itself, Full Moon provided us with ample opportunity to add in details of ourselves throughout the entirety of our wedding weekend. As a mini “destination” wedding, we wanted the weekend to provide the perfect atmosphere for friends and families to reunite.

Our ceremony was one of my favorite parts of the day as we had spent much time thinking out what we wanted our overall message to be. We desired it to be simple yet personal and perhaps a little different than the normal ceremony. The soft lights and the multitude of lit candles in front of a backdrop of burlap and lace made for a quiet, romantic feel. At the start of the ceremony, my oldest sister and Phil’s older brother carried each of our rings down the aisle with them and placed them inside a small wooden box that Phil had carved for me one summer while I was in Africa. Our rings themselves carried special meaning to us as they were made from Phil’s grandmother’s and grandfather’s rings. Phil’s ring was his grandfather’s, hammered and brushed for a softer look that would match my set, and my wedding band was created using the stones from Phil’s grandmother’s ring.

Guests then moved to the renovated barn on property where strands of lights were hung across the opening from the loft to the inner edge. Each table was decorated by a different centerpiece, each representing an aspect of Phil and I as a couple or individually. The evening took off—dancing helped along by one of Phil’s friends who played impromptu deejay and activities for guests such as thumb-printing and signing our guestbook tree and leaving us notes of advice in our Bible. The dessert table was full of “secret-kiss” cookies made by my sisters, spiced nuts made by my grandma, and our wedding cake—complete with apple and berry pies hidden within!

The weekend was beautiful and relaxed, and we wouldn’t have had it any other way. The months of gathering decorations from different stores finally paid off as the seemingly random pieces came together to create the perfect setting. Throughout the planning it felt as if the wedding was turning into something more extravagant than Phil and I ever wanted or could have imagined, however, when all was said and done, each guest told us how every detail of the weekend shone with Phil’s and my personalities. This was what we had wanted—time with friends and family, a celebration uniquely us, and a weekend to remember!